Internet Access Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
(including Online Teaching & Learning)
Date: March 2020 Review Date: Sept 2020 Policy Contact: Mr James Passam, Deputy Head
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INTERNET ACCESS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY (AUP)
1. This policy sets out acceptable use of the School network, the ICT equipment and access to the internet and e-mail facilities. All staff and pupils are required to adhere to the directives laid down in the policy and any breach may lead to disciplinary and/or legal action. The School reserves the right to monitor usage of the network, and pupils should be aware that routine monitoring will lead to the discovery of policy violations, in particular visits to inappropriate sites and the downloading or transmission of copyright material.
Annual reviews of this Acceptable Use Policy will be undertaken and amendments made to reflect changes in the services provided by the School, changes in UK law and the evolution of Information and Communication Technology in the wider sense. Both staff and pupils must ensure that they adhere to the current version of the AUP.
Separate guidance is provided for the safe use of the internet, e-mail and other such resources in the School’s Cyber-Safety Booklet.
This policy should also be read in conjunction with the School’s Anti-Bullying Policy, and the School’s
2. Cyberbullying
The School will not tolerate cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is defined as the use of information and communications technology (ICT), particularly e-mail, mobile phones and the internet, to deliberately upset someone else. It can take many forms, including threats, intimidation, harassment or cyberstalking by, for example, repeatedly sending unwanted messages or texts.
Cyberbullying is referred to in the School’s general Anti-Bullying Policy and Cyber-bullying Policy.
3. Bystanders
In cases of cyberbullying bystanders, or ‘accessories’ to the bullying, often have a more active role, e.g. forwarding messages or contributing to chat room discussions. Therefore although they may not have started the bullying they are active participants and often make the matter worse.
The School makes it clear to all pupils that bystanders have a key responsibility to the School community and to anyone they see being bullied or victimised. They are encouraged not to tolerate such behaviour and to stand up for what they know to be right, for example by telling a member of staff what they have seen or heard.
Access to the School’s ICT resources is a privilege and continuance of this facility requires pupils to behave appropriately and to display a responsible attitude at all times.
4. General
The internet and related services are provided for students and staff at Seaford College to further educational goals and objectives.
Each student and staff member is responsible for his/her behaviour and communications over the network. Users must abide by the School’s general standards, including all safeguarding requirements, code of conduct, and the common courtesies.
Any use of the School ICT resources, including communications (e.g. e-mails, video conferencing) and storage of data (whether on a network resource or external storage media provided by the School, or accessed using the School’s network) may be reviewed. Users cannot expect files on School servers or School provided cloud storage media to be private.
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5. Network Access
All users must always use his/her own account to access the network. Any attempt to impersonate another user or to interfere with data stored on the network by another user will be treated as a serious offence. Both these activities are illegal under UK law.
Passwords must be chosen carefully – they should not be readily ‘guessable’ – and kept secure. A password must never be divulged to others. If it is suspected that a password is known by other users, it must be changed immediately.
If a user identifies a potential security problem, he/she must notify a member of the ICT support staff immediately.
Students and staff must take every precaution to ensure that computer viruses are not introduced onto the network. The use of VPNs (Virtual Private Network) are strictly forbidden, and any user found to be using one to circumnavigate the Schools’ internet filter will likely be removed from the network for a period of time, and face a disciplinary process.
6. E-mail
All students and teaching staff are provided with a School email account. Only the school account should be used for communication between staff and students. Students should not email their teachers using private email accounts, and under no circumstances should a teacher email a student using their private email account.
All e-mails must be polite and use appropriate language. In particular they must not contain any material that could be considered abusive, sexist, racist or that incites hatred or is known to be simply untrue.
E-mails should not reveal personal details, whether about the sender or someone else, nor should they be used to arrange a meeting with someone known only via the internet.
Any pupil receiving an abusive or offensive e-mail should inform a member of staff immediately. He or she should not respond to such messages.
Pupils should not engage in ‘spamming’ or participate in chain e-mails.
The use of e-mail for social purposes should be kept proportional to the primary academic purpose. Social e-mail is strictly forbidden during lessons without explicit permission of a member of staff.
E-mails sent to external recipients on behalf of Seaford College must be carefully written and authorised by a member of staff BEFORE sending.
Use of, and access to, emails is the responsibility of the user, and all users should exercise full care and caution when accessing email accounts, and opening email attachments. If a user suspects that they may have accidentally opened a malicious email, they must notify the IT Support Team immediately.
7. The Internet
Viewing, retrieving, downloading or transmitting illegal or inappropriate material is prohibited, as is knowingly visiting websites where such material may be found. Any user discovering such sites accidentally should report the details to a member of if the IT support staff immediately.
Any user deliberately found to be accessing inappropriate material on any device within the School premises, or using school devices (including off-site) will be deemed to have transgressed either the Schools’ Behaviour Policy (Students) or Staff Code of Conduct (All Staff). The School uses a Sophos
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filter to monitor all searches, access to websites on all devices, and regular reports are generated and passed to the Deputy Heads, and DSL.
Intellectual property rights must be respected at all times. Users must not create and/or transmit material which infringes copyright. It is a breach of the School’s plagiarism policy to pass off another’s work as one’s own and this extends to information obtained electronically. All internet sources must be acknowledged when producing pieces of work.
Use of the School’s internet and ICT facilities for financial gain, advertising or other commercial activities is prohibited.
8. ICT Hardware
Users must respect the School’s network infrastructure and ICT equipment, and take appropriate care when using it. Any damage, however caused, must be reported immediately to a relevant member of IT support staff.
Hardware must not be connected, disconnected or tampered with in any manner without explicit permission. This includes the use of any software or any app used to bypass the College’s filters.
Unnecessary waste or abuse of ICT resources (for example inappropriate printing) may result in financial charges and/or suspension of network access.
9. Online Learning
The School makes use of FireFly as a learning platform for the setting of prep tasks, and for providing student information including academic reports. Users are issued with a secure username and password, and should ensure that these remain private. Parents, Teaching Staff and Students are allowed access to appropriate parts of the platform for each user group.
Zoom is an online video conferencing tool made available to teaching staff to support learning from home. The following points should be observed by all users:
• Only sessions facilitating group lessons should be hosted (no one-to-one sessions are permitted (except in respect of peripatetic staff and designated safeguarding leads as detailed below)) • Staff and students must wear appropriate suitable clothing, as should anyone else in the household • Any computers or mobile devices used should be in appropriate areas, for example not in bedrooms; and where possible be against neutral background • All live classes using Zoom are recorded by the teacher, and backed up elsewhere, enabling review of all sessions if required • Live classes should as a general rule be limited to no more than twenty minutes to provide a reasonable length of time for all users, and to balance screen time with other activities (it is accepted that there may be legitimate exceptions such as a peripatetic music lesson) • Language must be professional and appropriate as it would be within a classroom environment, including for any family members in the background • Teachers hosting classes will continue to use the three-warning behaviour policy for low level disruption, upon which on the third warning students will be removed from the session and the issue reported to the Deputy Head. Significant disruption, rudeness, or inappropriate content result in the user being removed immediately from the session and the issue reported to the Deputy Head. • Any user alarmed or concerned by any online Zoom session (either for content, breach of this policy, or other worry) should immediately contact one of the Deputy Heads, or Directors of Middle School and Sixth Form. • All students clicking on a Zoom link will be taking to a waiting room. Only registered uses licensed to the School Zoom account are able to enter Zoom rooms. Teachers (Hosts) will 4
take class registers (and unsure appropriate and correct students are in the waiting room. Teachers (Hosts) will then admit participants to the main room; all participants will have their audio and video muted upon entry. These measures are in place for the security of all. • All recordings of live sessions are protected under GDPR and stored on appropriate UK servers. They exist only for safeguarding purposes and not for further broadcast or transmission if students are included in the video recording. For example, a recorded session of a teacher demonstrating an example where no students are included would be acceptable for later use as a potential FireFly resource • Teachers should be mindful as to the needs of their learners. Some students may find working in this manner difficult, and may have specific educational needs that must be considered. Teachers should therefore be flexible in their approach to using such mediums, and in ensuring that they meet the needs of their students • The School manages the overall permissions and settings for Zoom, and so will disable certain features for the adequate safeguarding of students (e.g. Private messaging is disabled)
Teaching staff (as appropriate) are provided with a School device for providing online learning, including the use of Zoom to enhance the quality and engagement of their lessons. Teaching staff should not use their own personal devices for hosting Zoom sessions with students.
The School’s policy is to limit Zoom sessions to a maximum of twenty minutes per session as a general rule (with the exception of peripatetic teachers), and only one session within each 50-minute period. The School day consists of seven periods, so Zoom sessions should total no more than 2hours 20 minutes each day were all teachers to choose to use this medium.
Peripatetic teaching staff who ordinarily teach on a one-to-one basis are subject to the same points stated above in regards to online learning. It is therefore only possible for their lessons to be delivered online using live Zoom sessions if they are run as a group (e.g. more than one-to-one) or if the parent appears in the background at the start of the session to state that they will be monitoring in the background and that they are happy for the lesson to go ahead. Peripatetic staff are self-employed professionals are therefore able to use an appropriate business device, and will deliver the normal length of lesson appropriate to each student.
*Whilst the School is working remotely, the designated safeguarding leads of the School are able to host a one to one Zoom session with students where there is a pastoral or safeguarding necessity to do so. However, all sessions are securely recorded and can be reviewed at a later date if for safeguarding reasons this were required.
10. Screen Time
Spending time online and on devices can be a positive thing. But, higher screen time can put students at more risk of encountering bullying online, abuse and grooming (when someone builds a relationship with a child to exploit or abuse them), seeing inappropriate content, and not getting enough sleep and exercise.
As a School we spend considerable time educating students on these risks through our PSHE programme, and on how to stay safe online with appropriate content delivered across the Prep School and Senior School. This includes offering periodic parental talks.
There is a great deal of advice for parents on how you can protect your child online, including how to set parental controls, age limits for apps, games and media, and use of gaming consoles. Further details are provided in appendix 1.
11. Sanctions
The full range of School sanctions is available for dealing with students transgressing any of the above rules.
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In addition, abuse may result in a temporary ban on internet/computer use, with parents being informed.
Staff should refer to the Code of Conduct.
Where contravention of the rules may involve a transgression of the law, the police or local authorities may be involved.
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Appendix 1: PARENT GUIDE Your child’s screen time
If there’s a school closure or self-isolation due to coronavirus (COVID-19), your child will likely be spending more time on devices than usual, especially if doing remote learning. Know the risks, and what you can do to keep your child safe.
What’s the problem?
Spending time online and on devices can be a positive thing. But, higher screen time can put your child more at risk of:
• Being bullied online • Abuse and grooming (when someone builds a relationship with a child to exploit or abuse them) • Seeing inappropriate content • Not getting enough sleep and exercise
5 steps you can take to protect your child
1) Set parental controls on devices
Use parental controls to restrict access to in-app purchases and explicit or age- rated content, and, on some devices, how long they can spend on the device.
You’ll likely need to set a password. Make sure it’s different from the password used to access the device, and that your child doesn’t know it.
Parental controls are usually located under ‘Settings’. See below for more detailed instructions for different devices.
2) Make sure they’re doing school work when they should be
Try to keep an eye on what they’re up to on devices during school time – make sure they’re actually using them for any work they’ve been set.
Some virus protection software packages include monitoring features, so check to see if yours has this.
You can also buy standalone monitoring apps. See this guide for more: https://www.internetmatters.org/resources/monitoring-apps-parents-guide/
3) Talk to your child about staying safe online
Tell them:
They should only talk to people they know and trust in real life – anyone can pretend to be a child online If they do talk to people they don’t know, don’t give away personal information – like what street they live on or where they go to school,
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or share their location with them. Say no to any requests they get for images or videos, and stop talking to the other person Set their profiles to private, to limit what others can see Be ‘share aware’ – think carefully about what they share and with who. Once it’s out there, they’ve got no control over what the other person does with it. Remember, it’s illegal to take, share or view sexual images of under-18s, full stop If they see something that upsets them, or someone bullies them, tell an adult they trust
Don’t feel confident starting a conversation with your child about what they’re up to online? Read this advice from the NSPCC: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping- children-safe/onlinesafety/talking-child-online-safety
4) Agree rules on screen time
There’s no recommended ‘safe’ amount of screen time, but you should try to avoid screens an hour before bedtime.
Agree some limits to stop screen time interfering with your child’s sleep or family activities:
o Make a plan together, and stick to it. You could set media-free times and zones, like during meals or in bedrooms o Model the behaviour you want to see – which may mean no screen time for you at the times agreed with your child. Children are more likely to learn from example o Try to minimise snacking during screen time o Turn not using screens into a game, using apps like Forest, where not using devices is rewarded
5) Encourage off-screen activities
Get your child active for the recommended 60 minutes a day:
See www.nhs.uk/change4life/activities for free ideas for activities and games Try an app that’s designed to get children active – see the examples at www.internetmatters.org/resources/apps-guide/apps-to-help-kids-get- active/ Build in screen breaks if they’re doing school work at home. 5 to 10 minutes every hour should help. They could take a break to get a drink of water, look out of the window for a few minutes, or do some easy exercises like neck rotations and forward bends
How to set parental controls on your devices
Please note: when following the instructions below, the exact steps you need to take may be a little different depending on the device and software version you’re using.
Microsoft devices (Windows computers and Xbox):
You’ll need to have a family account set up, with ‘child’ profiles for your children. Learn more here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12413
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You can’t change existing adult accounts to child accounts.
Set screen time limits
Go to https://account.microsoft.com/family and sign in to your Microsoft account Find your child’s name and select ‘Screen time’ Switch ‘Use one schedule for all devices’ to ‘On’ to use the same schedule for all devices. Or scroll down and switch on screen time for different devices individually if you want to have separate schedules
You can set time ranges for using devices, and how many hours per day, for each day.
Set age limits for apps, games and media
Online:
Sign in to your Microsoft account, as above, and find your child’s name Select ‘Content restrictions’ Go to ‘Apps, games and media’ and switch ‘Block inappropriate apps, games and media’ to ‘On’. Under ‘Allow apps and games rated for’, select the age limit you want to apply to your child
On Xbox:
Sign in with an adult account Press the Xbox button on the controller to open the guide, and then select System > Settings > Account > Family Select the child account you want to put controls on, select ‘Access to content’, then select the age limit you want to set
Block inappropriate websites
Online:
Sign in to your account, find your child’s name, and select ‘Content restrictions’ Scroll down to ‘Web browsing’ and switch ‘Block inappropriate websites’ to ‘On’ To block specific sites, add links to them under ‘Always blocked’ To make it so your children can only access websites you’ve explicitly allowed, check the box next to ‘Only allow these websites’
Xbox:
Sign in to an adult account, press the Xbox button and follow the steps to get family settings above Select the child account you want to put controls on, then select ‘Web filtering’ Select the dropdown to see the available options, and choose the level of filtering you want
Manage purchases in the Microsoft Store
Online: Sign in to your account, as above, find your child’s name and select ‘Spending’
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Under ‘Ask a parent’, switch ‘Needs adult approval to buy things’ to ‘On’ Xbox: Go into your family settings, as explained above, and choose a child account Select Privacy & online safety > Xbox Live privacy > View details & customize > Buy & download and then select ‘On’ in the ‘Ask a parent’ box
Read more here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hub/4294457/microsoft- accounthelp#manage-family
iPads and iPhones:
Set a screen time passcode
Go to ‘Settings’ (a grey icon with a circular pattern on the home screen) and tap ‘Screen Time’ Tap ‘Continue’, then choose whether it’s your device or your child’s: o If it’s your device and you want to stop your child changing your settings, tap ‘Use Screen Time Passcode’ to create a passcode. Re-enter the passcode to confirm o If it’s your child’s device, follow the prompts on the device until you get to ‘Parent Passcode’ and enter a passcode, then re-enter it to confirm
Block in-app purchases
Go into Settings > Screen Time > Content and Privacy Restrictions. Enter your passcode if asked Tap ‘iTunes & App Store Purchases’ Choose a setting (for example, in-app purchases) and set to ‘Don’t allow’
Block explicit content and set controls on apps
Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions Choose the settings you want for each feature or setting under ‘Allowed Store Content’
Filter website content
This sets restrictions on what websites children can access (e.g. you can limit access to adult content).
Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions Enter your screen time passcode Tap ‘Content Restrictions’, then ‘Web Content’ Choose ‘Unrestricted Access’ (access to any website), ‘Limit Adult Websites’ (to block access to adult content in Safari) or ‘Allowed Websites Only’ (to set specific websites as ‘approved websites’ and limit access to only these websites)
Read more here: https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201304
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Fire Tablet
Set a parental controls password
Swipe down from the top of the screen, then tap ‘Settings’ (a cog icon) Tap ‘Parental Controls’ Tap the switch next to ‘Parental Controls’ Enter a password, confirm it, then tap ‘Finish’
Restrict apps, features and content
In ‘Parental Controls’, tap ‘Amazon Content and Apps’ to choose which content or apps you want to block You can set your device so that you can only play videos and Twitch (a live streaming platform), and access WiFi and location services, by entering your parental controls password. Go into ‘Password Protection’ in ‘Parental Controls’ to toggle these on To block access to Amazon, go to ‘Parental Controls’ and press ‘Amazon Stores (excluding Video)’, and tap to block
Block in-app purchases
Go to the Amazon Appstore on your device Select Account > Settings > Parental Controls Tap ‘Enable Parental Controls’, and then enter your account password. Once you’ve done this, your child won’t be able to buy anything in the app without your Amazon password
Restrict available content
Go Parental Controls > Amazon Content and Apps Toggle categories to ‘Blocked’ to block access to relevant apps and games
Set times when your child can use the tablet
Go to ‘Parental Controls’ Tap the switch next to ‘Set a Curfew’, then tap ‘Curfew Schedule’ Set the day and time limits you want
To unlock a device during a curfew, enter your parental controls password.
Read more at https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201357720 and https://www.laptopmag.com/articles/parental-controls-fire-tablet
See here for more information on settings for specific devices, as they can vary: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200127470
Android phones
Set up parental controls
Open the Play Store app, tap the 3-lines button in the top left > Settings > Parental controls Toggle Parental controls to on 11
Create a PIN. Make sure to choose a PIN your child doesn’t already know
You can then choose the highest age rating you want to allow for apps and games, films, TV, books and music. Go into each option and choose the age rating you want.
Restrict purchases
Open the Play Store and tap the 3-lines button in the top left Select Settings > Require authentication for purchases > For all purchases through Google Play on this device
Manage screen time
You’ll need to set up Family Link to do this (see this page for more: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7101025?hl=en) (Family Link is an app that lets parents set “digital ground rules” for their children).
Then, in the Family Link app, select your child and follow the steps below.
To set a daily limit on a device, on the ‘Daily limit’ card, tap ‘Set up’ or ‘Edit limits’ > follow the instructions on the screen.
To set time limits for specific apps (only for devices running Android Nougat or newer), on the ‘Today’s activity’ card, tap ‘Set limits’ > next to app you want to limit, tap the sand timer icon > Set limit (an icon with the top half of the sand time filled) > set a daily time limit for the app > tap ‘Set’.
To set a bedtime, on the ‘Bedtime’ card, tap ‘Edit schedule’, then follow the instructions on the screen to set a bedtime.
PlayStation
You’ll need to set up accounts for family members, with adult and child accounts, and make sure you and other adults have family manager or parent/guardian status. Read more about how to do this here: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/my- account/parentalcontrols/family-management/
Set a login passcode and system restriction passcode
A login passcode means that only you can log in to the ‘family manager’ user on the system.
To do this:
Go to Settings (this should be shown by a toolbox icon) > Login Settings > Login Passcode Management Set a 4-digit passcode using the controller, then re-enter it to confirm
Using a system restriction passcode will prevent your child from changing parental control settings. To do this:
Go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > PS4 System Restrictions Enter the existing system restriction passcode (if you haven’t set one before, the default is 0000) 12
Select ‘Change System Restriction Passcode’ Enter a new 4-digit passcode using the controller, then re-enter it to confirm
The PlayStation website also explains how to disable new user creation and guest login: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-help/help-library/my-account/parental- controls/ps4parental-controls/
Set spending limits
Go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management Select the user you want to set a spending limit for Select ‘Applications/Devices/Network Features’ under the ‘Parental Controls’ section Select ‘Monthly Spending Limit’ and press X
Restrict access to network features
Go to Settings > Parental Controls/Family Management > Family Management (you may need to enter your account password) Select the user you want to set restrictions for Select ‘Applications/Devices/Network Features’ under the ‘Parental Controls’ section Under ‘Network Features’, you can choose whether to allow a child user to communicate with other players on the PlayStation Network, or view content created by other players
Set age rating levels for games, Blu-ray Discs and DVDs
Go to Family Management, as above (you may need to enter your account password) Select the user you want to set the age level for Select ‘Applications/Devices/Network Features’ and select the content you want to restrict
Sources used in this guide
This factsheet was produced by Safeguarding Training Centre from The Key: www.thekeysupport.com/safeguarding
Manage devices, apps & screen time, Google for Families Help https://support.google.com/families/topic/7336331?hl=en&ref_topic=6149867 Should visual display unit (VDU) users be given breaks?, HSE https://www.hse.gov.uk/contact/faqs/vdubreaks.htm Guidelines issued on activity and screen time for babies and toddlers, NHS https://www.nhs.uk/news/pregnancy-and-child/who-guidelines-screen-time/ Physical activity guidelines for children and young people, NHS https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-children-and-young- people/ Share Aware resources for schools and teachers, NSPCC Learning (scroll down to the parent’s leaflet in the grey box) https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/research- resources/schools/share-aware-teaching/ The health impacts of screen time: a guide for clinicians and parents, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/resources/health-impacts- screen-time-guide-clinicians-parents Sexting in schools and colleges, UK Council for Internet Safety https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sexting-in-schools-and-colleges
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